Blast from the Past: The Heavens Open – Korea Is Created

The Heavens Open

Korea Is Created

Every year, October 3 is a national holiday, Gaecheon-jeol (개천절, 開天節), often rendered as “Korea Foundation Day” in English but literally means “opening of heavens celebration.” Six years ago, Stephen Redeker provided the Gwangju News with a two-part article about the story of the creation of Korea and his interpretation of the story’s meaning (“Korea’s Creation Myth: What Can We Learn? Parts I & II,” September and October 2015). The creation took place, according to legend, in 2333 B.C., making this year 4354 by the Dangun calendar. — Ed.

Every society has its own myths explaining how things came about in ancient times before research and studies could provide answers. Some myths are credited as the origin of many societal norms, and others serve as a moral compass to help guide people along the path of life. For Korea, Dangun (단군), “Korea’s founding king,” serves as the most famous creation myth. Exploring this story can shed some light on a few modern-day practices and beliefs in Korea.

As the story goes, there was once a heavenly king, Hwanin (환인), who had a young prince, Hwan-ung (환웅). This heavenly prince asked his father for permission to descend to Earth to live and rule over a beautiful part of the world, which is modern-day Korea. The king agreed and sent his son with three heavenly seals or treasures and 3,000 followers earthward. Hwan-ung arrived at the foot of a sacred sandalwood tree, located in the vicinity of Baekdu Mountain (also referred to as “Taebaek Mountain” in present-day North Korea), where he established his new sacred city, Asadal (아사달).

Hwan-ung enlisted the spirits of Wind, Rain, and Clouds to be his ministers to carry out his vision. He then created a government of 360 departments to manage laws and codes. These departments handled matters of life and death, sickness and medicine, good and evil, hunting and fishing, agriculture, and other affairs.

Then, a bear and a tiger get involved in the heavenly prince’s plans. These two animals wanted so much to become human. They prayed every day at the sandalwood tree for the gods to grant them that wish. Having magic powers, Hwan-ung granted them the chance to become human if they could pass a special test of will. The tiger and bear were ordered to remain in a cave and out of the sunlight for 100 days. They were given only a bundle of mugwort and 20 bulbs of garlic to eat during this time. If they could endure this challenge, they would magically become transformed into humans.

The tiger could not stand the torturous ordeal and fled the cave after only a short time. But the bear remained, and after only 21 days, the animal was granted its wish: The bear was transformed into a beautiful woman and given the name Ung-nyeo (웅녀). After some time, this woman became sad that she was alone, so she prayed at the sandalwood tree again. This time, she prayed for a baby to nurture. The prince saw her sadness and decided to make her his wife and give her the son she so desired. She finally bore a son who was named “Dangun, the Sandalwood King,” and he would become the first human king of the new nation of Korea – Go-Joseon (고조선), over which he reigned for about 1,200 years.

As mentioned earlier, exploring this story of Korea’s creation can shed some light on a few modern-day practices and beliefs in Korea. Keep in mind that many parts of the story can be interpreted in a number of ways.

Why did the Heavenly Prince, Hwan-ung, choose to settle in this area of the world? Koreans are very proud of their country’s beauty, so it would make perfect sense for this Heavenly Prince to decide to rule over that particular piece of land when he could have chosen to be anywhere in the world.

The ministers of Wind, Rain, and Clouds, who aided Hwan-ung in setting up his kingdom, certainly can account for the weather conditions common to the area.

Having a special department for hunting, fishing, and agriculture can symbolize the food staples rice, fish, and meat needed for the early inhabitants to survive.

Life, death, sickness, and health signify the life expectancy of the people and their reasons for mortality. Customs and morality could be dictated by those who were in charge of overseeing the good and evil aspects of life.

As mentioned above, the tiger and bear can teach us lessons. If people pray, they are reverent and can withstand personal suffering, as the gods will act favorably upon them. The tiger gave up and ran, so it was not rewarded. Patience and persistence are good virtues.

The food chosen for the tiger and bear has some significance as well. Mugwort is still prevalent today as an herb that is used to flavor rice cakes and soup. Koreans also heavily rely on garlic as a side dish and ingredient in numerous foods. Both of these plants have strong medicinal properties, so it is no wonder these particular plants were incorporated into Korea’s creation myth.

The responsibilities of a woman of those times is depicted in the bear’s destiny. But it was not enough for Ungnyeo to become a beautiful woman, as she wanted to be married and have children. She was sad and prayed for happiness until the wish was granted. The birth of her son, Dangun, is recorded as the 2nd day of the 5th moon of the lunar calendar. The 3rd day of the 10th moon is the day traditionally cited as the date of Korea’s creation. This, too, is a lunar calendar date, but when the Republic of Korea began using the Gregorian calendar, after much consideration, it was decided that the significance of the 3rd day of the 10th month was so great that, instead of converting the date to its corresponding Gregorian calendar date, it would remain as the 3rd day of the Gregorian calendar’s 10th month. That is why we now observe Korea’s foundation day, Gaecheonjeol, on October 3.

Such myths have their variations, depending on the source from which they were gleaned. There is also much more to this story than what has been explored.

It was noted that many Asian nations have similar creation stories to the Dangun story. It is believed that Dangun’s reign began around 2333 B.C., coinciding with the reign of ancient China’s Emperor Yao. After ruling for 1,200 years, Dangun gave up the throne. When he died at age 1,908, he became a “mountain god,” which is an immortal spirit called San-shin (산신).

Go-Joseon, meaning “old Joseon,” is the first kingdom that there are written records of. It emerged in the northwestern part of present-day North Korea and the Liaodong Peninsula of present-day China somewhere around 2333 B.C. and lasted to 108 B.C. Throughout the centuries, it expanded south and, to a greater extent, to the north into China’s Liaoning Province area and beyond.

There is also evidence that the term “dangun” (檀君, meaning “sandalwood ruler”) was an actual term used in Go-Joseon times as a title for governors of the districts within the kingdom. It is not difficult to believe that sandalwood would be the sacred tree incorporated into the legend, as sandalwood is very aromatic, retaining its fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the wood, and even today sandalwood is one of the most expensive woods in the world.

Since the creation story emerged so long ago, it was first passed down by word of mouth. Details have surely changed over time and what lives on are the memorable and favorable parts of the story. Although it cannot be proven with factual evidence, Korea’s creation myth is fascinating in its details and helps us to understand a bit about cultural aspects of Korean life today.

▲ A Dangun rite held in Sunchang County, North Jeolla Province, 2007.

Photo Attribution: “Dangun Rite,” by Sunchang County, https:// www.flickr.com/photos/sunchang_photo/8079520746; CC BY-NC-SA 2.0